The best Spirituality eBooks: Reddit reviews

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

Have you heard of Negative Visualization?

Pause now and then to consider the state of your life. Think of the people you love and the things you value. If you love someone, consider how you’d fare without them. If you have a great ride, think how you’d do on a bicycle or bus pass. Think of how bored you’d be if you could no longer do whatever hobbies you enjoy. Ponder the changes that a sudden loss of health would bring. This can help prepare you for an unexpected loss or change, although nothing will ever really prevent grief. More importantly, it should help you appreciate your circumstances and the people around you more, and make you content with the life you already live.

You seem dismissive of meditation and books, which seems odd for a question like this, but the first I’d recommend would be A Guide to the Good Life.

I wanted to recommend this one... written by a philosophy professor, it's very accessible and made a big difference for me. It's sort of an intro to stoicism.

https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Good-Life-Ancient-Stoic-ebook/dp/B0040JHNQG/ref=sr_1_3?

Secondly--- I own a business with a seasonal slow period. For 3-4 months each year I more or less don't have to work. I have been fighting that strange guilt sensation for so long. I know exactly what you mean.

It's hard to do anything different from what EVERYBODY else is doing. But it doesn't mean we are wrong to do it. Stoicism has helped me accept that it's perfectly natural that I would feel strange given that my lifestyle is so different from pretty much everyone else's.

There's a theory of psychology that due to the millenia of generations of survival of the fittest, our brains are hard wired to worry. It's only been for the last few generations that a good portion of the human population could live without having to be on guard constantly against death by wild animals, starvation from crop failures/not finding food to hunt, small wounds becoming infected and killing you, etc.

Those of us alive today are the descendants of the ones who DID worry enough about the dangers in the world to survive through them long enough to have kids and keep them alive too. The ones less inclined to worry would have survived less often. So you could say many of us were bred through natural selection to be peak worriers.

Today our world no longer requires this level of worry, but we're stuck with brains which are built to be anxiously aware. Our brains will create those feelings even when our lives do not require any worry at all.

I read a great book on Stoicism a few years ago I really enjoyed. I think it definitely helps keep these anxious feelings in perspective. Step 1 for me is to accept that those feelings are entirely normal and not something I need to fight agains. u/cagarsalvagemente you might enjoy this book!

https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Good-Life-Ancient-Stoic-ebook/dp/B0040JHNQG

He's a nutcase fundamentalist religious zealot, frankly. I'll allow that it's possible he could also be correct in some of his assertions, but it's definitely rather incredible that he's the main source for many if not nearly all Xinjiang pieces.

>Zenz’s work on China is inspired by this biblical worldview, as he recently explained in an interview with the Wall Street Journal. “I feel very clearly led by God to do this,” he said. “I can put it that way. I’m not afraid to say that. With Xinjiang, things really changed. It became like a mission, or a ministry.”
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>Along with his “mission” against China, heavenly guidance has apparently prompted Zenz to denounce homosexuality, gender equality, and the banning of physical punishment against children as threats to Christianity.
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>Zenz outlined these views in a book he co-authored in 2012, titled <em>Worthy to Escape</em>: Why All Believers Will Not Be Raptured Before the Tribulation. In the tome, Zenz discussed the return of Jesus Christ, the coming wrath of God, and the rise of the Antichrist. 
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>Zenz predicted that the future fall of capitalism will bring to power the Antichrist within a “few decades.” He identified the force that “will usher the Antichrist into power” as “the economic and financial fall of ‘Babylon,’ with ‘Babylon’ symbolically representing the world’s global economic system (capitalism).”

This is the 101 in stoicism. If you want to be happy, you have to learn what you can control and what not. This book is a goog starter: A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy (English Edition) https://www.amazon.de/dp/B0040JHNQG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_taa_EouqDbTJH6VM7

There's entire books written on how to take psychedelics responsibly to maximize the benefit. People shouldn't expect to just take psychedelics and conquer their anxiety without knowing what they're doing. It takes a bit of knowledge about how to navigate your own consciousness to "transcend" the anxiety and attain a state of complete inner peace. Basically lay down with calming music, eye shades preferred, look within your mind. Accept and surrender to everything you experience: even to the point where you think you're dying and you just let it happen. It sounds scary, but when you come out the other end of that, you feel fantastic because you conquered life's greatest fear. Anxiety is normally gone for the rest of the trip at that point. Many people experience jaw tightness while on a psychedelic, but that goes away too along with the anxiety.

There's other pitfalls you have to watch out for too. A main one is that you shouldn't put any expectations on the experience. Just be fine with whatever is happening in your mind and let it all happen on its own.

Reading The Psychedelic Explorer's Guide is what helped me go from having anxious trips to beautiful spiritual experiences:

https://www.amazon.com/Psychedelic-Explorers-Guide-Therapeutic-Journeys-ebook/dp/B0051OHLVG

These are many of the same things that therapists conducting studies into psychedelics have their patients do. It's really decades of illegal personal experience that has determined the more effective ways to take psychedelics, not the recent scientific studies. The studies are just trying to prove the efficacy.

I mean he's selling an ebook on Amazon for $3.33 titled Juggling in a Trash Can for Satan: The Tell-All Tale of an Insane, Homeless Juggler Starting a Sex Cult.

https://www.amazon.com/Juggling-Trash-Can-Satan-Tell-All-ebook/dp/B07MYFCB55

I look pretty sexy, thank you very much

Weird correction, are you trying to say that whoops, I'm secretly a theist because I try to follow Stoicism?

Some philosophers have retooled ancient Stoicism as a modern non-religious life philosophy, and it adapts really well to modern secular values and a material world: https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Good-Life-Ancient-Stoic-ebook/dp/B0040JHNQG. The doctor of philosophy who wrote that book is very emphatic about the nonreligious nature of this notion of life philosophies. My point was that atheism is not a life philosophy, and if you simply reject religion -- which comes with life philosophies preinstalled -- you still need to find a life philosophy.

I found a couple books in the sidebar that are along the lines of what I'm looking for: A Guide to the Good Life and Get a Life: You Don't Need a Million to Retire Well.

Ok.. I mean Adrian Zenz is a right wing Christian radical who believes he's "lead by God" in his research against China. He has never been to Xinjiang. He is so fundamentalist he also believes in the rapture, and that gender equity, homosexuality and socialism are all products of the "Antichrist" (take a look at his book if you're so interested in his work). Nearly every source claiming "millions" of people are being detained (or even killed with no evidence) almost always stem from his population "research" in spite of the overwhelming lack of any evidence whatsoever. He is directly cited and mentioned numerous times on the wiki page titled "Uyghur genocide".

This is not the case with Palestine as the horrid conditions and death toll are readily available from literally countless on-the-ground sources, witnesses, historical documentation (as this has been a nearly century long occupation by British and Israeli forces with US backing).

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Also I'll just link you here as well, as The World Bank issued a public statement on their own site post 2019's initial allegations from Zenz (here) : "The team conducted a thorough review of project documents, engaged in discussions with project staff, and visited schools [in Xinjiang] directly financed by the project, as well as their partner schools that were the subject of allegations. The review did not substantiate the allegations."

Not super sure if this will help, but my WS seems to be making progress dealing with spirals with IC teaching him self-soothing stuff (meditation, derp breathing, coming to me for reassurance, etc) plus the book Daring Greatly by Brene Brown. My WS has got a lot stewing around in his head so I can't tell you what it is in that book or what other things regarding shame hes thinking of.. but there is a section in there for "shame resilience."

She's got a lot of you tube videos and books that i don't know much about. But my WS said this Ted Talk: https://youtu.be/iCvmsMzlF7o was a good preview of the beginning part of the book he's reading. So you guys can check it out and see if theres stuff in there that seem like a good match for what can help.

You are so early in your process. But I promise you--I promise you--you will get through this. There will be so much pain, so much confusion. But eventually, if you do your work, you will come to understand that pain is the sensation of your body healing itself.

Hugs, little sister. Be patient with yourself. Start, maybe, with The Power of Now. Or maybe Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends on It.

Read my post history. See that if I survived you can too.

Hugs.

It takes time. Be patient. Think of the pain you're feeling in this way: if you sustain a bruise, it switches through all its colors while it's healing. That's what's happening now. Your body is healing.

See, in reality there is absolutely no difference between a so-called physical injury and an emotional one. They're all the same, because they're all physiological; they're all your body trying to recover from a wound.

I remember the day my therapist told me: you're coming to terms with impermanence.

That's what you need to do. Buddhism helps with this. The Power of Now helps with this. Heck, check my post history just from yesterday. I provide a lot of resources to help you recover.

You still have to do the work. It's not going to happen overnight, or even necessarily over a few months. But it will happen.

You have handled every single challenge you've ever faced in your life. You will handle this one too.

You need to develop boundaries. Google them. Learn.

You will do this.

If I could recommend a book for anyone it's The Art of Stoic Joy.. Surface level philosophy but it helped me at least consider why and how I think about things. Honestly I should probably reread it.

I'm not going to lecture you with a bunch of platitudes. I've been there, for different reasons, but I've been there. I get it. I tipped over the apple cart of my whole life and made some huge changes. I'd say if you're going down that road anyway then shake shit up. Not sure your financial situation will improve but make some dramatic changes and see if anything is worth sticking around for. If you're resigned to ending it then you have everything to gain and nothing to lose.

And dude if you ever want someone to just bitch and complain to, you can shoot me a message. Best to you bud.

Hi Lily, thanks for your question. :)

I can re-assure you, this is only temporary.

It will obviously feel like its gonna be like this forever. Thats what feelings do to us, they trick is in believing that I will be like this all the time.

Your emotions come from your thoughts. So observe them:

What are you telling yourself? Are you talking in absolutes? Like: "I feel so bad, when will it finally stop?" is one good example.

My rule of thumb:
"What resists persists"

So always accept these feelings, dont fight them. Embrace them. Feeling gross in that moment is part of recovery, you are getting healthier now.

Enjoy the process, as dumb as it sounds.

Also check out this book for more mindflullness:
https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Eckhart-Tolle-ebook/dp/B002361MLA/ref=sr\_1\_1?crid=37ETHBSFL3WOP&amp;keywords=eckhart+tolle+die+macht+jetzt&amp;qid=1666100171&amp;qu=eyJxc2MiOiIwLjYzIiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&amp;sprefix=eckh%2Caps%2...

As a light/easy read intro I like this book: https://www.amazon.com/Guide-Good-Life-Ancient-Stoic-ebook/dp/B0040JHNQG From there you can go to the original sources recommended in the FAQ and comments.

So as a physician, I must say that psilocybin is currently a scheduled I substance. Your doctor will not be able to legally provide any advice to you about micro or macro dosing. Yet, there are some amazing research trials currently underway to hopefully bring psilocybin online for official treatment within 5 year.

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BUT, from things my patients have told me, there are good resources for these kinds of questions.

They and patients in research studies have said that macrodosing psilocyin has been of the top 5 experiences of their lives. But, especially in research studies, they wear a mask, go inward listening to music and are very intentional about set and setting. They have had guides with them to keep them physically and mentally safe in that space.

Whatever you decide to do, I hope you have a physician with whom you feel comfortable being honest. I try to create that environment because I would miss out on so much about my patients' stories, not to mention a lot I would never learn myself.

Best of luck to you!

dont really need to attack the information when the author is also responsible for this wonderful scholarly work

Worthy to Escape: Why All Believers Will Not Be Raptured Before the Tribulation

Adrian Zenz has never been to Xinjiang, he's a right wing Christian radical who believes he's "lead by God" in his research against China. He also believes in the rapture, and that gender equity, homosexuality and socialism are all works of the Antichrist (take a look at his book if you're so interested in his work). Any source claiming "millions" of people detained all stem from his propagandized "research" in spite of the overwhelming lack of any evidence whatsoever.

^That's who you're aligning with.

You and others are so easily deluded on this, while the US literally invaded Iraq and outright killed (not "detained", not "reeducated") literally hundreds or thousands of Muslim citizens... yet you think I'm a "tankie". absolutely get f*cked you neolib moron.

Please, little sister, go to therapy. You are complex and you are carrying a lot of guilt. You need help to sort through it all, to learn to recognize yourself as human, to love and forgive yourself.

Mindfulness might help. The Power of Now might help. Because the past is gone. It exists now solely in your head.

You need to take back your power. The power of loving yourself.

See, these feelings, after what you've described, they sound really normal to me. They are human. Which means you are human. Yet you have set yourself up with guilt, anger, blame, as a monster. And you're not one. That person who abused you was the person who was wrong.

Narcissists use emotionally available people because they lack self esteem. She used you. It doesn't make you a monster to be victimized. Just the opposite.

My guess is you feel a ton of anger; my prayer for you is that you'll learn not to aim it at yourself, but at the person who really hurt you.

Hugs always.

Honestly, this book might help. The author is a Capricorn and I think her approach would vibe with your Capricorn side. https://www.amazon.com/Existential-Kink-Unmask-Embrace-getting-ebook/dp/B07XMG4BWN

Haha, no jos kerran Zenz tekee mielestäsi hyvä työtä, minkä arvostelu on vain kiinapostaajien disinformaatiokampanjaa, niin sinun ilman muuta kannattaa lukea Zenzin muutakin tuotanto, kuten tämä kirja, miten varmistaa taivaspaikka ennen maailmanloppua

Saattaa sisältää sinulle hyviä vinkkejä miten lapsia kasvattaa vanhan testamentin mukaan ja pitää mielessä, miten sukupuolten välinen tasa-arvo on saatanallinen juoni tuhota maailma. Tietenkään hänen äärivanhoillinen maailmankuvansa ei ole mitenkään ristiriidassa Kiinan kanssa.

Hello!Right now I am going through a similar situation as you and as you mentioned in your post it only applies to some aspects of my life and makes it very hard to keep up with this way of thinking.Yesterday I finished listening to an audiobook called "How to be an Imperfectionist" by Stephen Guise which suggests a number of practices you can do daily,according to what fuels your perfectionism,in order to overcome this problem.I think it is worth checking out!Here is the link:https://www.amazon.com/How-Be-Imperfectionist-Self-Acceptance-Perfectionism-ebook/dp/B00UMG535Y?ref_=d6k_applink_bb_dls_failed I hope I helped you in some way.

One book that helped me with a lot of the issues you are struggling with that caused me to drink was, &quot;The Four Agreements&quot; by Don Miguel Ruiz.

Sure. He writes about it in this book

https://www.amazon.com.au/Worthy-Escape-Believers-Raptured-Tribulation-ebook/dp/B0792WB8WV

He talks about how Satan is behind gender equality which he uses to attack God's authority particularly through 'post-modernism'.

He also mentions that Xinjiang was a mission given to him by God.

This book is incredibly popular.. check it out.. matter of fact I'm going to re-read it.

The Four Agreements

>Grainy pictures taken from Google maps is all it takes it convince you?

Excuse me, there's also the solid evidence of the supposed anonymous testimony of one guy interviewed by the dude who wrote about how there's gonna be <strong>&quot;not just one but two raptures&quot;</strong>.

You know, a credible, sane, scientific-minded, fella.

I started with the book Existential Kink I’ve also found astrology and tarot to be incredibly beneficial along with a daily journal. Hope this helps get you started!

check this out